Hellenic and Hellenistic - Essay Example

Extract of sampleHellenic and Hellenistic

Hellenic world had the following characteristics: small cities with self-government system, education gained with the help of private tutors, limited commercial activity, women's role limited to domestic affairs, widespread slavery usage, development of poetry and drama introduction, philosophical movements with emphasis on logic and ethic, introduction of experimental method into sciences, and belief into Olympian gods. Hellenistic world was similar to Hellenic world, however, several new features were common: cities ruled by the wealthy class with centralization of power in the hands of monarchs, education provided at gymnasiums, extensive trade both on the sea and land, introduction of the marriage contracts (women could possess slaves and be property owners), local cultures mixed with classic Greek, philosophical emphasis shifted to non-rationalism and mysticism, and significant advances in astronomy and medicine (Thornton, p. 16-23).
Position of women in the society is one of the differences between Hellenic and Hellenistic societies. In Hellenic civilization, marriages were the form of contract between the father of the girl and the father of the boy and were seen as the mean to consolidate the power. Usually men married in their late thirties. They had access to women before: so-called hetairas (prostitutes) were very common. Women from the higher level families, on the other side, were completely isolated from the society, they were not allowed to show themselves in public or when the guests arrived. Women lived in their own side of the house and usually married very early, in their mid-teens. Hellenistic culture has made a significant step in making women's position almost equal to men's. Women were allowed to own the property and slaves, to be the agents in business affairs and could sign the marriage contract outlining the responsibilities of both parties, the divorce and property ownership. Women could be the initiator of the divorce without being looked upon by society.
Polis was the distinctive characteristic of Hellenic civilization. Polis was the city-state with independent government - there have been hundreds of such cities in Greece. City-state was governed by the oligarchy or by the representatives of upper level social class. This was some form of the dictatorship. In the sixths century, however, some form of democracy has been introduced into Greek civilization: Athenian democracy when citizens were granted the right to vote hold the office and own the property (Thornton, p. 85-86). Hellenistic age has changed the situation: absolute centralized monarchy has been introduced and more opportunities were granted to upper class women. Women still could not vote or participate in political activities, however, they were involved indirectly and their opinion has been taken into account. Hellenistic monarchy has laid the foundation for the development of urban culture.
The typical male representative of Hellenic culture was concerned with polis, conformist and oriented towards the public life, while the representative of Hellenistic culture was individualistic, possessed cosmopolitan outlook and was oriented towards
...Show more

Summary

Hellenic (500-300 BC) period refers to the time when people lived in classical Greece. The civilization was isolated from the other world and was not influenced by outside cultures or political forces. Hellenistic period (300-50 BC) refers to the time after Alexander's conquests when the elements of the foreign civilizations were mixed with the classic Greek culture…

Related Essays

“The word mystery (mysterion in Greek) derives from the Greek verb myein, “to close,” referring to the closing of the lips or the eyes” (Meyer, 1987, p. 4). Mystery religions were some of the most famous non-traditional religions of the Hellenistic era.

This meant the Greek culture was less exposed to outside influences, as the major source of cultural trade would be through economic trade, whereas in the Hellenistic period conquering would bring cultural spoils back to Greece much more directly. The High Classical Period encompassed a time when Greece, while still defined and unique, was still developing its identity.

This shall cover the time frame from the 6000 B.C.E. to the 19th Century. The Near East architecture stemmed from the progress that Mesopotamia has been able to propagate being the cradle of Civilization. This is the period that can be considered to be start of most of the civilization and where advancement on culture and art has emerged.

Hellenic were the people who lived in Greece before the conquests of Phillip while Hellenistic refers to people during the period after Alexander the Great’s conquests. The Hellenic architecture consisted primarily of pyramids while the new

Moreover, Egypt encouraged the building of monuments; thus, while Mesopotamian civilization was in many respects more important and richer in its heritage, more is known about Egyptian civilization because of these monuments and their

He contributed his efforts towards justice and unfair distribution of resources among the rich and poor. Riding on justice for the rich and poor, he was elected as a legislator making a momentous contribution against tyranny and